Shine America's Carolyn Bernstein On Gracepoint: "We Have Ended Up With A Dream Cast"



Carolyn Bernstein, the executive VP of scripted TV programming at Shine America has spoken to World Screen about the company’s vision for their new drama output. She discussed Gracepoint which has been adapted from the award winning UK crime drama Broadchurch; the ten part series sees David Tennant in the role of Detective Emmett Carver, based on his character of DI Alec Hardy in the original.

“After the huge success of Broadchurch’s launch on ITV in the UK, we had many conversations with Kudos’ Jane Featherstone and series creator Chris Chibnall about how we might work together with them to bring Broadchurch into the US,” Bernstein explains. “It was very important to all of us that the essence of the original series be preserved. Similar to our process on The Bridge, we worked together to find a US buyer and showrunners who deeply connected with the original series but would also be open to nuanced changes that reflect our US culture, landscape and sensibility. We believe it’s a perfect fit for the US market because it explores such universal, human themes in a relatable small-town setting.”

On the strong ensemble cast she added, “We have ended up with a dream cast, but we definitely had a few distinct advantages going into the process: the brilliant David Tennant, who starred in Broadchurch, was our first big casting announcement and that helped set the bar very high; then we cast Breaking Bad’s Anna Gunn and it just snowballed from there with Jacki Weaver, Nick Nolte and Michael Peña signing on in quick succession. I think our Gracepoint scripts were very strong and, of course, actors could watch the original Broadchurch and understand the origins of Gracepoint and how strong the source material was.”


Gracepoint is currently in production on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The series is due to air as part of Fox’s 2014-15 season.




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